1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device.
2. Background of the Related Art
Power semiconductor modules (also referred to in this specification as “semiconductor devices”) include semiconductor chips such as IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors), MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors), and FWD (Free Wheeling Diodes), and are widely used as power converting apparatuses.
This type of semiconductor device includes multilayer substrates, which have an insulating substrate and circuit patterns made of copper foil formed on the insulating substrate, and the semiconductor chips mentioned above that are disposed on the copper foil, with the multilayer substrates being housed in a case. The multilayer substrates and the semiconductor chips inside the case are wired to interconnect the electrodes of the semiconductor chips, to connect the electrodes of the semiconductor chips and external electrode terminals, and such components are sealed inside the case using resin (see for example Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-323646).
However, the product characteristics of a semiconductor device are affected by magnetic fields produced by currents flowing in the wiring provided to electrically connect the semiconductor chips, which results in the risk of malfunctioning. In the past, this has reduced the reliability of semiconductor devices.